Last night, the winners of the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights, New Comedy Award and New Musical Award were announced, at the inaugural Tom Hendry Awards ceremony at Stage West in Mississauga.

CAROL BOLT AWARD WINNER - DON HANNAH Presented for the best work premiered by a PGC-member in the past year, the 2012 Carol Bolt Award was bestowed on Don Hannah for The Cave Painter. Jury: Florence Gibson MacDonald (Chair), Catherine Banks, Martin Kinch and Cynthia Zimmerman.

NEW MUSICAL AWARD WINNER – LORNE ELLIOTTPresented annually for new musical work by a PGC-member, the 2012 New Musical Award was presented to Lorne Elliott for Jamie Rowsell Lives. Jury: Paul Ledoux (Chair), Mel Atkey, Jim Betts, and Adam Brazier.

NEW COMEDY AWARD WINNER – MICHAEL GRANTPresented annually for the new comedy by a PGC-member, the 2012 New Comedy Award was presented to Michael Grant for Shorthanded. Jury: Norm Foster (Chair), Chris Earle, Klaus Schuller and Naomi Snieckus.

Additionally, a Lifetime Membership was bestowed on Norm Foster for his years of service and ongoing support of PGC.

Winner of PGC’s Post-Secondary Playwriting Competition, Leah Jane Esau (for Disappeared) was also on hand to receive her award. Capping off the evening, PGC gave the stage over to Theatre Ontario, who presented the 2012 Maggie Bassett Award to Dave Carley.

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SYNOPSIS OF WINNING PLAYS

CAROL BOLT AWARD:

The Cave Painter by Don Hannah is a funny, moving one woman show about being an artist, about dealing with loss, about masquerading as Alice B. Toklas and having a baby with Gertrude Stein. Dianne is a visual artist who has reached a crisis point: approaching sixty, she's trying to figure out what to do in the wake of a series of terrible losses. Within the last two years, both her sister and her partner have died, her mother has developed Alzheimer's, and she is estranged from her son and beloved granddaughters. The Cave Painter is a play about the hazards of middle age. It's also an exploration of how we deal with death emotionally and culturally, and it looks at the evolution and role of the artist in society throughout time.

BEST NEW MUSICAL:

Jamie Rowsell Lives by Lorne Elliott - When a young man without any show business aspirations gets taken over, out of sheer circumstances, by the greed and the opportunism of the people who engineer his career as an entertainer, his life becomes complicated. Awakened to love and spurned, talented but unfazed by celebrity, his genuine good heart carries him through trying experiences till he makes a surprising decision.

BEST NEW COMEDY:

Shorthanded by Michael Grant is a comedy about lost dreams and second chances. It explores the trials and tribulations of middle aged men’s lives and most importantly, it is a story about friendship and to what ends we would go for our friends and the pursuit of their dreams. The action is viewed entirely from the dressing room while 8 men attempt to win the Tri-County Old-Timers Hockey Championship. Their small town seems to be cursed and has never won a championship of any kind since the same boys lost ‘game 7’ years ago while playing Junior B hockey. They are now faced with another “Game 7” scenario and must fight the other team while fighting each other in order to redeem their infamous loss many years before.

About PGC

PGC was established in 1972 as the Playwrights Co-op. The main purpose was to publish and distribute scripts to encourage more productions of Canadian plays. Since then, it has grown and now provides programs and services for over 500 members.